Elections in Panama: the elections have closed and the counting of votes begins

This Sunday at 4 pm (Panama time), the elections officially closed. The Unofficial Transmission of Results (TER) system of the Electoral Tribunal of Panama will begin working at 4:30 pm “as it receives the information” from the voting stations.

It is estimated that the results could be known after 9 pm

In its entirety, the electoral roll has 3,004,083 voters, of which 1,511,049 are women and 1,493,034 are men.

The electoral authorities of Panama reported a high citizen participation at the close of the elections this Sunday.

For their part, the candidates for the Presidency of Panama agreed in calling on citizens to vote and to take care of them during the counting process, which in this country is in charge of a civil entity.

Eight candidates are competing for the Panamanian presidency in these general elections, in which national and regional deputies will also be elected, as well as municipal governments.

According to the few available polls, José Raúl Mulino, the dolphin of the disqualified former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) and candidate for the alliance of the Realizing Goals (RM) and Alianza parties, has a chance of victory; Ricardo Lombana, from the Other Path Movement (Moca); Rómulo Roux, from the alliance of the Democratic Change (CD) and Panameñista Party (PPa) parties, and former president Martín Toriijos, from the Popular Party (PP).

The National Directorate of Electoral Organization reported that at 10:00 am (Panama time) 431,778 votes were counted, representing 14.37% of the people authorized to vote in the general elections of May 5. Magistrate Eduardo Valdés Escoffery suggested that The results could be known after 9:00 pm that Sundayas initially projected

“The trend occurs much earlier, the estimate is that at 9:30 pm 95% of the tables will be counted, but this must be rethought given the high level of participation, since the scrutiny may be slower,” he claimed.

Valdés Escoffery mentioned that it was likely that the tables with the greatest influx of voters would not close at 4:00 in the afternoon, the scheduled time for the end of the electoral process, due to the high volume of participation. He explained that those in line at that time were able to exercise their right to vote.

The magistrate highlighted that the percentage of participation was even higher, and believed that abstentionism would be low.

On this Sunday afternoon, the National Scrutiny Board was officially installed, which will have the task of counting the minutes for the presidential and vice presidential candidacies. Vote counting will begin at 4:30 p.m.

“We have a commitment to the nation, and to ensure and enforce the will of the Panamanian people,” declared the president of the board, Nivia Castrellón.

The function of the National Scrutiny Board supervises and executes the counting of votes cast during the elections, guaranteeing the transparency and integrity of the process. Only members directly appointed by the Electoral Tribunal have a say in the decisions made by the board, while the others, although they do not vote, verify the content of the voting ballots to maintain the integrity of the process.

The secretary of the board plays a crucial role in documenting the process, being responsible for preparing minutes and managing documents related to the electoral corporation. This work can be done manually or through technological means, with the aim of speeding up the preparation and printing of the minutes.

In summary, the installation of the National Canvassing Board marks a significant step toward fair and transparent elections, ensuring the people’s confidence in our nation’s democratic process.

Susana Malcorra, head of the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Panama, praised the active, positive and joyful participation of Panamanians on election day.

“First of all, I would like to acknowledge the Panamanians since the information we have provided is about truly active, positive and joyful participation, as is appropriate in an electoral election,” the Argentine Foreign Minister expressed to the Panamanian media.

In addition, he highlighted that the coverage of electoral observation has been at the national level and so far no major problems have been detected. “The vote has been carried out in a timely manner, and we have great expectations that this scenario demonstrates the great commitment between Panamanians with democracy,” he stated.

Malcorra explained that she and her team of delegates have been present at around 400 voting stations, highlighting the transparency and good conduct with which the elections have been held on this occasion. “I insist that we have not revealed any element that has worried us,” she concluded.

The General Electoral Prosecutor’s Office of Panama reported that in the first cut made at 10:00 am (Panama time), 21 complaints were received related to alleged irregularities related to the voting process. Although the statement did not detail the reason for the complaints, the report indicated that 13 were received through the Prosecutor’s Office website, 3 by telephone, 1 in person and 4 by other means.

“At the FGE headquarters in Panama City, a center was maintained to receive complaints by telephone, also in the Offices of the Public Ministry and on the institution’s website about what happened at the national level,” the institution indicated. .

The Electoral Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) last night made a call to all Panamanian citizens: “Wait calmly for the results that will be delivered by the electoral authorities, the only ones empowered to do so.”.

Furthermore, Argentina Susana Malcorrahead of the OAS mission in the Caribbean country, asked political parties, and citizens in general, to conduct themselves with patriotism during election day.

“As Head of this Mission, I hope that these general elections will be a new democratic celebration for Panama,” said Malcorra.

The favorite in this Sunday’s elections visited the former president at the Nicaraguan embassy, ​​where he remains in asylum to avoid going to prison.

Mulino and the former ruler gave each other a big hug and they can be heard saying to each other “Brother!”, “We are going to win!”according to a video released by the campaign team of the Realizing Goals party (RM, founded by Martinelli).

After the brief meeting, in the presence of Mario Martinelli, brother of the former president who was disqualified for the instance, Mulino left the embassy without making any statements.

Shortly after the opening of the elections, the president of the Electoral Tribunal called for voting to “strengthen democracy” in the Central American country.

“I invite everyone to go out and vote (…) whatever the results, “Panama wins by strengthening its democracy”Alfredo Juncá stated in an official event.

The electoral magistrate assured that the Court “offers certainty, confidence and certainty“, and confirmed that the country can have “the certainty that the votes will be well scrutinized by the citizens of civil society who will be at the voting tables.”Juncá He pointed out that “clientelism and misinformation” are the enemies to defeat and that both are fought by going out to vote thinking about what is best for the country “and choosing for Panama.”

In this electoral contest they are nine legally constituted parties who participate with eight presidential candidatesfour of them with possibilities of victory.

This is the former Minister of Security José Raúl Mulinofrom Realizing Metas (RM), who replaced the disqualified Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) and occupies first place among the eight candidates in the few available surveys, with the 37.6% of voting intentionaccording to the latest survey published by the newspaper The Press.

The ex-president Martin Torrijos (2004-2009), for the Popular Party (PP), Romulo Rouxfor Democratic Change (CD), and Ricardo Lombanaby the Otro Camino Movement (Moca), follow with support of 16.4%, 14.9% and 12.7%, respectively, a “technical tie” when the margin of error is 2%.

He rest lacks apparent optionswith José Gabriel Carrizo, for the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), the best positioned of them with 8.3%, followed by the independents Zulay Rodríguez (5.1%), Melitón Arrocha (2.4%) – who surprisingly asked at the end of the campaign to vote for Torrijos – and the leftist Maribel Gordón (1%).

In these elections, which are predicted to be close in terms of results, the 3,004,083 Panamanians summoned (50.3% women and 48.7% men), They will elect 885 positions.

In addition to the president, they will also be elected 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament (they talk), 71 deputies to the National Assembly (AN), 81 mayors701 township representatives and 11 councilors, all with their substitutes, for the constitutional period from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2029.

It has alreadyand 4,458 votes collected through early voting online for president, a controversial procedure after the initial disorder of the presidential candidates’ boxes in the digital version, according to figures from the Electoral Tribunal (TE).

Of the more than 3 million voters eligible to vote, there are 75,837 18-year-olds who will do so for the first time.

Voting began this Sunday in Panama with the opening of the electoral centers to which they are summoned more than 3 million Panamanians to elect president and other positions andn one of the most complicated general elections in the country’s history.

The electoral centers enabled by the Panama electoral court They opened as planned at 7:00 a.m. local time (12:00 GMT), with lines at some of the 3,035 voting points spread across the Central American nation, and They will close at 4:00 p.m. local time (21:00 GMT), and the closing time may be extended if there are any voters waiting, according to authorities.